Carry Me Home
by NakuruAngel
Summary: Lee is missing Gaara and chooses to drown this out in sake. Passing out in the forest, he's carried home by Gaara, who is visiting with his siblings. This starts a chain of events that could only pull them closer together. GaaLee, YAOI. No flames, R
1. Lovesick

AN: I know. You're all so tired of my Naruto crap by now. Shut it and read. xD

Disclaimer: Damn, I'm too poor to own Naruto. TT

Chapter One :: Lovesick

His eyes were starting to hurt. Burn, to be more precise. For no particular reason that he could think of. Tears were no foreign concept to him—rare as they'd become these past few years—but they had never hurt like this.

He did not remember them stabbing his heart.

However, on this night, the tears were doing quite strange things to him. Or maybe it wasn't the tears. Maybe it was this odd, unnatural feeling that he felt, squeezing his chest as though out to kill him. He felt as though a long, thick silk string was constricting his heart, connecting to who knew what. Every tear that now fell left a sore feeling in that area of his chest, as though the tears turned to acid when they landed on it.

As much as they hurt, he could not stop them falling.

He sat on his bed, watching the brilliant orange and scarlet colors painted in the sky with absolute despair. He felt as though he could just go kill himself right now. He glanced at his dresser, where he knew a kunai was kept, and saw instead two photographs, sitting side by side.

One of them was of Haruno Sakura, smiling brilliantly for the camera. Lee had loved that picture. With all his heart, or so he thought, he'd loved that girl. Next to that, there was a picture of the Sand ninja—Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. The blonde was in the middle, smirking seductively at the camera, the puppet master looking very intimidating with his purple face paint next to her. And standing to the left, a very bored-looking insomniac staring absently at the lense.

At this sight, Lee's tears almost ceased. He almost laughed at the trouble he'd gone through to get the three together like that before they left. But then, at the memory of Gaara's leaving, he began crying once more. Getting up, he walked over to the dresser, picking up his friend's picture gingerly. He moved it instead to the stand beside his bed.

Pink clashed with red.

Lee somberly sought for the reason he was thinking about Gaara to begin with. Well, he'd been scheming about new ways to possibly beat Neji. Yes. Then he'd thought about fights Neji had lost, and the Chunin exam's fight between Neji and Naruto came to mind. Then he'd remembered his own fight in the Chunin exam…..

Against Gaara….

And that had led him here. Because he hadn't seen Gaara in far too long. And he didn't think he was coming back for quite a long time. And as soon as Lee realized this, violent tremors had gone off in his heart, and he had unconsciously started crying.

Now he was moving Gaara away from Sakura because he didn't look right next to her. His spot in Lee's heart wasn't next to Sakura's. It just wasn't correct.

Now he was almost certain there was something wrong with him. Every time he caught sight of Gaara's picture, or thought about him, every time his voice even grazed Lee's thoughts, he would feel horrid pains like needles in his heart, sending a shudder through his spine and more tears to his eyes.

Lee sighed. This was so unlike him. He'd been repeatedly warned against the evils of alcohol, but people always said it drowned out your emotions, and maybe if he watered it down a lot….?

That's how it was when Lee got up off his bed to go into his kitchen, open the pantry, and began consuming sake. It started with one glass, which tasted putrid to his untrained tongue despite the water. Then another, to wash down the first aftertaste, and then another, because by then couldn't remember why he'd even started, and another for the heck of it all.

Before too long, he was wandering around drunkenly outside in the wavering sunset, a bottle of sake in one hand. He staggered around like this, alert for any enemy, until after the sun had said its goodbyes to the world, and then, finally, passed out in the forest long after the moon had risen. It was lucky for him—any anyone else—that he didn't meet anyone on his journey through the forest. No damage was caused, for once, by this drunken, lovesick Lee.

AN: HOSHIZ that's a short chapter. xD Shortest I've ever written, shortest I'll ever write. I PROMISE I'll make the next ones longer, okay? This was like….almost a prologue, y'know? Oh well. Anyway, be on the lookout for more, I'll update soon.

**EDIT:: Sorry if this shows up twice, I had to edit it a little after finally watching the 'Drunken Fist' episode. Enjoy.**


	2. Plans

AN: GaaLee crapz for chu!! -3- Be happy, lol. This chapter has hardly any fluff, but it's starting!! I swear!!

Disclaimer: ….do I REALLY need one for every chapter?? No, I don't own Naruto. Seriously. BELIEVE IT. –shot–

Chapter two :: Plans

The first thing Lee was aware of was a throbbing coming from his head. That's mainly what woke him up to begin with. The next thing he realized was that he was in a soft, warm bed with a silky pillow under his head and a heavy blanket over his spandex-clad body. Which meant he hadn't changed into his pajamas.

Which meant that this headache was a hangover and he'd passed out in the forest last night.

He opened his eyes and sat up—a very bad move. It seared his forehead painfully, and he had to close his eyes when the world started rocking dangerously. He held his head in his palms, trying to recall how he'd gotten home. He'd been sad, had gotten out the sake, had probably gone wandering off into the forest—being as there were leaves in his hair—and most likely passed out there. He remembered nothing past that point.

_'Someone brought me home, then,'_ he thought. _'But who?'_

The answer to this question did not come easily. He knew that, when Sasuke left, Sakura had taken to wandering in the forest at night, but she never went to his side where he trained or sometimes wandered himself. Naruto didn't stay in the forest after dark unless he'd exhausted himself training, which wouldn't give him the energy to carry Lee all the way home. Tenten never went into the forest at night unless she needed to. Neji would have just left him there if he'd found him.

Kiba acted very strange during the full moon, which had been last night. If he'd been roaming the forest, he would not have stopped for a passed-out Lee. Hinata never went into the forest save for training purposes. Shino…..was out of the question, the thought of him touching Rock Lee made him shiver.

Who, then? Chouji, Ino and Shikamaru stayed away from that side of the forest for the most part, being as their training didn't take place anywhere near there. It was possible that a Jounin had found him, but they would have taken him to the hospital rather than his house. He could think of no one that would know where he lived and would have taken him back.

He sighed, deciding to thank whoever it was if they chose to reveal themselves. Lee stood, had a violent wave of nausea, and fled to the bathroom to empty his stomach of the half-digested alcohol. Cleaning up and changing into a new jumpsuit, Lee decided to head off to the practice grounds despite his headache and nausea.

Walking along, he smiled, realizing that it was still fairly early in the morning and he had plenty of time to start training. He was very happy especially that he'd not overslept despite his drunken state last night.

Arriving at his everyday training spot, he sucked in a deep breath of cleansing Spring air and began kicking a log.

He did not realize he was being watched.

The redheaded Kazekage found great amusement in watching Lee train. He could never say exactly why, but he found his determination fascinating, his absurd goals entertaining. He liked watching Konoha's Green beast tell himself what he would do next, shouting words of perseverance to no one, not knowing that, really, there was someone.

Of course, he would never admit, even—if not especially—to himself that the gleam of sweat on Lee's forehead and the smooth flow of powerful muscles as he worked were especially appealing to Gaara, who had fair little muscular build and didn't often break a sweat.

It was the thought of said muscles that caused Gaara to decide he'd been watching long enough. He turned and hopped to another tree, but his pants were snagged on a branch and it caused the leaves to rustle and fall. Lee whipped around immediately. Silently, Gaara groaned in dismay.

"Who's there?" Lee shouted, getting into a fighting stance, glancing quickly around. Gaara decided that it was inevitable now, and stepped out into the clearing, doing his best to act surprised.

"Good morning, Lee-kun," Gaara said casually. Ah yes, he was _certainly_ not watching this boy a few moments ago.

"Oh, Gaara-san…," Lee said, eyes widening in surprise. "What are you doing here?" he asked, genuinely interested. Gaara leaned against a tree.

"Walking." Simple, believable answer. But Lee didn't want it.

"I mean, what are you doing in Konoha?" he asked, gesturing to the ground—Konohagakure's ground.

"I'm here with my siblings to discuss trade details with the Hokage," he explained, as if the whole world should already know by now. Lee, however, did not know. Why had no one told him? Well….one reason may be because they didn't know how important Gaara had somehow become to the leaf ninja. He had never told anyone exactly what an amazing friend he thought Gaara was—it was easier that way, really.

The consequence was that Lee didn't know how many times he'd missed Gaara because nobody told him.

"Oh…I see," Lee said absently. Truth be told, Gaara couldn't have chosen a better time to come and see Lee.

"How are your other teammates?" Gaara asked when the silence became uncomfortable. Lee snapped back to the present time. His thoughts had been wandering to his mood the night before, and how badly he'd been missing his redheaded friend, and even though the person in question had been standing right in front of him, he'd almost forgotten who he'd been talking to.

"They're doing well, I believe," Lee said happily, bringing to mind Neji and Tenten's faces. Smiling wider, he added, "Tenten and Neji are involved now, and they're very happy."

(AN:: Don't kill me please, if you don't like that couple. I can't help it if I do.)

This won him a blank stare from Gaara.

"Involved?" he questioned, tilting his head a bit to one side, eyes curious. In Lee's opinion, it was a very flattering position for him to be in. He quickly discarded that thought, burying it under thoughts of how many laps around Konoha he'd run if it surfaced again.

"Yes. You know, er…._romantically_ involved," Lee explained, trying to keep from blushing. Gaara looked at him for a while longer—making Lee fairly uncomfortable—then nodded.

"Hn." A moment more of silence. "And how are _you?_" he then asked, looking directly at Lee's eyes. Lee breathed in deeply to keep from blushing.

"I am well," he said, finding nothing better to say. "And yourself?"

"Hn…fine, I suppose," was his answer. Gaara looked out into the forest. A light breeze picked up and leaves danced their way into his view. He hadn't had this long of a conversation with anyone informally since his sister had talked him into coming to Konoha in the first place. He had suspicions about that, but kept them to himself. Other than that, he'd kept his mouth shut, choosing instead to talk with his eyes and take in the beauty of Konoha. This conversation with Lee was making him fall into an easy mood, something that he did very, very rarely anymore.

"Eh…so, you said your siblings are here, too?" he distantly heard Lee asking. He looked around and found said ninja a few feet from him, looking inquisitively into his jade eyes.

"Temari and Kankuro, yes," Gaara replied, giving no signs of having not been paying attention earlier.

"That's excellent! We should have a get-together!" Lee exclaimed happily. "My team has no practice tomorrow, so if you three aren't busy, we could have it at my house!" he offered, full of energy. Gaara was taken a bit off-guard by this, but how could anyone stand to say no to this happy, eager face?

"That sounds fine, Lee-kun," he said, hiding a smile. "What time would be alright? None of us have anything to do tomorrow," he added, emphasizing that Lee had free choice of time for the little reunion.

He thought for a moment, scratching his chin lightly.

"Hm….I think we could do it at three in the afternoon—not too close to dinner, but long enough after lunch so that nobody is too stuffed for a little food!" he said, obviously satisfied with his logic. Gaara nodded, keeping a straight face, then remembered something that almost broke this.

"Lee-kun," he said. Lee looked at him curiously. "Don't bring any sake." A small smile played on Gaara's lips—the tiniest fraction of what Gaara felt inside, remembering the passed-out ninja from the night before.

"Wha…?" he started, then his eyes widened in realization. "_You_ brought me home last night!" he exclaimed. Gaara let the smile widen a teensy bit, and nodded.

"You looked so sorry, Lee-kun, all curled up in that clearing last night. How could anyone not?" he said teasingly. Lee smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm sorry to cause you the trouble," he said apologetically. Gaara shrugged lightly.

"No trouble, Lee-kun. Just don't do it again," he warned softly, then mentally slapped himself for letting his worry show through in his tone. Lee noticed, but didn't say anything to it. Instead, he laughed.

"I won't, Gaara-san," he promised. He glanced up at the sky. "Oh! It's so late already, I lost track of time! I must get going if I'm going to make this reunion happen! I'm sorry I can't chat longer, Gaara-san," he added as he saw Gaara's face fall ever so slightly.

"So, three tomorrow?" Gaara inquired to the back of Lee's head.

"Hai, Gaara-san!" Lee called over his shoulder. He turned, waved, and disappeared into the trees of Konoha.

AN:: Still kinda short, but this is my first time writing a yaoi fanfiction that's had more than one chapter to it. Aha, sorry. Anyway, I'm going to write more A.S.A.P., so hopefully I can have one update at least every two or three days. This story will have twelve chapters to it, which means it'll all be posted soon if I keep writing like this. :3 So, please review, and enjoy! 3

**EDIT:: I had to edit the suffix Lee added to Gaara's name. It was kindly pointed out to me that it was wrong, sorry. J**


	3. Reunion

AN:: Well, not very many people like this story, but I'm having such fun writing it, the chapters are going to keep coming. :3 Promise. So, enjoy, the fluff really is starting, I promise.

Chapter three:: Reunion

The planning of the get-together was completed faster than anybody would have thought possible by a very happy and therefore very energetic Rock Lee. He had rushed home after his conversation with Gaara, and immediately called over Tenten. Everybody knew Tenten was amazing at planning parties, and Lee was so energetic that, combined, they'd get this thing done in no time flat.

On the phone, Lee had said that they were planning a reunion for Team Guy and the Sand siblings and would she come over to help him out? She'd agreed in a second, and as soon as she'd arrived, she'd already compiled a list of things that needed done.

It was found that Lee and Tenten worked easily together on parties. Tenten was a social girl, so she knew what they needed and how they could make it work with Lee's living room. Lee ran around town full-speed, picking up food, refreshments, vacuum bags—his house was not clean enough, according to Tenten, for a reunion party—and other such things as Tenten set everything up when Lee brought it home and sent him straight back out for something else.

And so it was that the reunion for Team Guy and the Sand siblings was arranged.

---

Gaara was more insecure about things than Lee. He'd never been to a reunion—who did he have to be reunited with? He'd certainly never had a small party like this thrown just for _him,_ just because he'd come to the village and happened to meet Lee. It left several butterflies in his stomach that he had trouble dealing with because he'd never felt those, either.

He'd gone home, though, with a small smile on his face—an odd sight for the Konoha villagers—and had almost immediately been asked what was wrong by Temari.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered simply. Temari eyed him skeptically until he continued. "We've all been invited to a little reunion party at Rock Lee-kun's house tomorrow afternoon at three," he said, feeling the butterflies rocking his stomach and having a tough time not sounding too horribly excited about it. Kankuro, silent so far, raised his eyebrows.

"Rock Lee? That one from the Chunin ex….am….," he faltered, seeing Gaara's face fall from the mention of the Chunin exam. He and Lee had come quite far since then, yes, but he still flinched away from the memory.

"Anyway," Temari said, eager to change the subject. "What did you say, Gaara?" Her brother looked up and nodded. She sighed.

"If you said yes, then we're all going, I guess. That Lee and his sensei are a bit weird for me, but we can deal," Temari said decisively. "After all, how rude would it be to turn down an invitation that Gaara already took?"

"Whatever you say, Temari," Kankuro said uncaringly, walking in the general direction of the kitchen and leaving the blonde and redhead alone.

"So….," Temari started awkwardly. Sometimes, she talked to Gaara for hours on end, knowing that he'd sit there and listen even if he never had anything to say. It was a good feeling to have, but right now she didn't feel very comfortable around Gaara. He was acting different—and she'd learned that, with Gaara, different was more often than not a bad thing.

"Hn?" Gaara mumbled, turning to face his sister.

"How was your visit with Lee?" she asked politely. The bottom of Gaara's stomach tickled at the words.

"It was good," he said quietly. Temari looked questioningly at him, but said nothing.

"So…three?" Temari confirmed as Gaara headed once more for the door. He nodded, and disappeared.

---

The next day went normally. Lee got up to train even though there was no team-practice that day, and ended up being interrupted by Tenten about halfway through the morning. She insisted that they go back to Lee's because she'd just thought of a few more things they needed to do—probably something Lee wouldn't think of, like cleaning his bathroom mirror or wiping down the refrigerator.

Either way, everything was perfectly ready by the time 3:00 came around. Gaara and his siblings showed up at Lee's doorstep at exactly the right time, as Lee knew they would.

"Hello, Gaara-san," Lee said enthusiastically upon opening the door. "And hello to you as well, Kankuro-san and Temari-san." They all nodded pleasantly and stepped inside.

Needless to say, Tenten had done an excellent job of fixing things up. She'd cleaned his whole living room and most of the other rooms from top to bottom. A table at the back of the room had two bowls of chips and a punch bowl with some cups set next to it.

"Where's Neji, Lee? Tenten is here," Temari asked, heading for a seat on the couch. Tenten chose this time to interrupt.

"Neji was practicing when I last saw him, but he said he'll be coming," she said sweetly. Temari shrugged.

"So, you and him, huh?" she said, winking. Tenten colored a bit and beamed.

"Yup!" she replied energetically. Temari laughed.

"Well, good for you, then," she congratulated. Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"Love's troublesome, in my opinion," he said dully, crossing his arms. Temari raised her eyebrows at him.

"You sound like Shikamaru, Kankuro," she pointed out, receiving a chuckle from the rest of the room's occupants.

"Speaking of _which_," Kankuro retorted, "how _is _Shikamaru, Temari?" Temari's cheeks flared, and she glared hatefully at her brother.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't spoken to him," she replied acidly. Tenten grinned knowingly.

"Do I spot a little crush, Temari-san?" Lee said, planting himself on the loveseat that Gaara stood next to. Temari's face deepened a shade.

"No, you do _not._ Your eyebrows must be blocking your view," the blonde said, disgruntled. Gaara smiled faintly. The rest of them laughed.

The rest of the day went like that. About half an hour later, Neji arrived and was pulled, willingly or not, into the happy, carefree conversation.

The same conversation that Gaara was constantly being pulled into, usually by Lee. It wasn't a bad thing—usually, Gaara disliked having normal conversations with people. But this time, Lee's presence seemed to radiate and fall over everyone like a soothing aura, drawing Gaara's voice into the air that was now thick with conversation. Temari could have sworn she'd even heard her little brother laugh every now and then—quietly, maybe, but it was there.

Tenten took notice that Lee always included Gaara in the conversation, and also that he always sat or stood somewhere close to the redhead. The conversation bit could just be one of Lee's kindhearted, nice-guy gestures, and maybe the latter part was, too. To Tenten, however, it just didn't seem like it.

Gaara's sister noticed things about Gaara that Tenten wouldn't have seen because she didn't know him as well—and vice versa. She'd been watching him for his reaction to the little reunion ever since it had started. Because of this, she was the only one who noticed the slight widening of his eyes whenever Lee's arm or hand brushed against Gaara, or the way his smiles—small as they were—always held a tiny hint of a blush whenever it was caused by Lee.

Finally, after the chips and punch were gone and people had begun repeating things, Tenten and Neji bid everyone farewell and left. As the brunette knew it would, this caused the feeling that it was time to leave, and Temari and Kankuro announced that the Kazekage still had paperwork and such to take care of and fairly dragged him off.

"We enjoyed the party, Lee," Temari said, smiling. "Thanks for inviting us." Lee grinned, giving them a thumbs-up.

"It was my pleasure, Temari-san! Please do inform me when you or your siblings are in town again, Gaara-san," Lee said, grinning almost ecstatically. Gaara let out a minuscule, sad smile and nodded gently.

"Well, goodbye, Lee!" Temari called. Kankuro smiled too, waving as the three made their way to their hotel. Lee grinned and shut the door.

What a busy evening it had been.

AN:: OHNOEZ this chapter is late. T.T I'm sorry. More soon! Keep the reviews coming, everyone! I'm also sorry this is so short, I meant for it to be longer. . 

**EDIT:: Once again, fixing the suffix Lee gives Gaara.**


	4. The First Date

AN:: Maybe this chapter will have more fluff in it. Actually, it probably will. And it'll just get better from here. No smut though, sorry. ;3

Chapter four :: The First Date

That night, Lee happily fell into bed. He'd seen Tenten watching him the entire time, and it had made him nervous and tense. He'd gone on like nothing was happening, but he'd seen her calculating look and didn't want to know what she'd been thinking about.

He fell into a sleep troubled by the butterflies Gaara's face brought to his stomach, haunted by the redhead's voice that he so longed to hear. He woke up earlier than usual—so early that it was still at least an hour before the crack of dawn, his usual waking time—and got up anyway, knowing that his Kazekage friend would not let him sleep that night. He quickly hopped into the shower, put on a clean jumpsuit, and headed for the forest so he could train peacefully.

---

Gaara's night was different and yet similar. He could not sleep, of course, for reasons already understood. However, he could not relax, either. Usually, with the constant presence of sand around him, he knew he was safe and was content with that. Tonight, though, his muscles were tense and his head hurt, and he knew it was because of Lee.

The green-clad ninja was in his thoughts all night long—try as he might to distract himself. He was so thankful when morning finally came and he was presented with a number of Kazekage-like distractions to choose from.

Thankful for the intense training he always set for himself, and the distraction it provided for Lee, he put his entire focus into it, kicking the poor stump until it was chipping bark. It was an old stump, and had survived much training from Lee and Guy. This was part of the reason Lee so treasured his training time.

Guy had been on a mission, and hadn't been around for the reunion. But knowing that today was the day he was coming back made Lee work harder and faster, determined not to stop at all until he had to. Of course, the time that he had to came faster than normal because his stomach had been too busy trying to cope with giddy butterflies his dreams had given him that he'd skipped breakfast.

So around noon, Lee stopped jump-roping and deposited his rope by the stump. Looking around, he realized what a pretty day it was. He'd put so much focus into his training he hadn't even seen how blue the sky was or how soft the clouds looked, sluggishly moving across it as if they had all the time in the world.

Which, probably, they did.

Lee sighed. He also found himself wishing he were with Gaara again. They could look at the clouds together….

He shook his head, picking up his pace. He needed to go eat and then get back to his training. He needed a day to forget about Gaara. He needed….

He needed the Kazekage. He needed him next to him, close to him….

No, this wasn't right. Now that Gaara was here, Rock Lee found himself acting even stranger than when he'd been gone. He didn't know _what_ he needed anymore. All he knew for certain was the meaning of his stomach's growling, and that would certainly lead to Ichiraku ramen. If anything, ramen would help Lee calm down and think clearly.

---

Gaara, having finished his paperwork that needed to be done to make up for his absence in Suna, was looking forward to a walk around town before his meeting after lunch with the Hokage. His mind needed a bit of airing-out…his thoughts of Lee seemed the most sane at the moment. Which was absurd, because Lee should not be in his head this much. It was simply not healthy.

Even so, he decided it could be cured by a day away from Lee and a walk around the bustling city of Konoha. He was absolutely sure, in fact, that he would be fine by tomorrow morning if he kept his thoughts on something else. _'Soon enough,'_ he told himself, _'I'll slip back into my old thoughts.'_

Of course, this counted on keeping Lee's face out of his head until tomorrow. Which he did not get to do, because, just as he rounded a corner, he saw the Leaf shinobi walking straight towards him.

At first, he hoped he could turn around and walk the other way, but that thought was shattered as soon as Lee smiled. He'd seen him. Gaara saw him slow down at first, then smile and wave, walking towards him eagerly. Gaara did not smile, but walked sanely enough through the crowded streets to Lee.

"Gaara-san," Lee greeted, nodding slightly. "Good afternoon. What brings you here?" he asked.

"I was taking a walk. I have to meet the Hokage-sama after lunch," he said quietly, hoping Lee could still hear him around the bustle of the city. Obviously, he had, because he beamed and gestured to something that was obviously down the next street.

"I was just going to get some ramen, Gaara-san. Would you like to come? My treat," he offered, his face and voice far too sweet for the redhead ever to turn down. He nodded.

"That sounds nice, Lee," he said, momentarily forgetting to add the suffix to his friend's name. Lee looked at him for a moment.

"I like it better when you say my name that way," he said decisively after a second of uncomfortable staring. This caused his friend's face to turn slightly red before he could do anything to stop it. Seeing this, Lee smiled again and turned away, ready to lead the Kazekage to his favorite ramen restaurant.

As they walked, they said nothing to each other. Gaara walked slightly behind Lee, not knowing exactly where they were going, and did his best to keep his eyes away from places they shouldn't be roaming.

He lead Gaara to Ichiraku Ramen, and the two took a seat.

"The Kazekage? At my restaurant!? This is a dream come true!" the owner said, practically crying with joy. He scared Gaara slightly. He would not be coming back here unless it was with Lee.

They ordered their food, and when they got it, Gaara took a cautious bite, the owner waiting over his shoulder expectantly.

"Well…?" he persisted. Gaara swallowed.

"It's…._good_," he said, amazed. He hadn't thought ramen could be so delicious—they rarely ever had it in Suna, but it was delicious. No wonder it was Naruto's favorite food.

"Really, Gaara-san? You like it?" Lee said, watching the redhead take another bite. Swallowing, Gaara smiled at the brunette.

"Very much," he said, then returned to his bowl, not leaving much room for talk between the two mouths slurping noodles down. When they were done, Lee paid, but they didn't move.

"Gaara-san, do you enjoy your job?" Lee asked, quite out of the blue. The question took Gaara off guard, and he turned to face his companion.

"Well, I help the people…someone has to do it, and I know I can do a decent job of it," he answered. Lee sighed.

"But you haven't answered my question….do you _enjoy_ it?" he repeated, tilting his head to one side and looking curiously at Gaara. This time, the Kazekage wasn't as quick to answer. He thought it over for a while, then answered.

"….no. It's hard, but if I don't do it, someone else might who would abuse their power. I rarely enjoy the work I do, but it keeps certain things in order," he said carefully, choosing his words with caution. Lee looked at him for a moment.

"Well then," he said, "it looks like I'll just have to make your stay in Konoha as enjoyable as possible, since you don't like your job." He said this with a wide, true smile that made Gaara's cheeks flush red. Lee saw this and felt butterflies gnaw at his insides.

"It's my responsibility; you don't have to try and make that better," Gaara said, his voice accidentally coming out softly and gently. He inwardly winced at his own tone—it was very unlike him to let such nice emotion shine through. It was also unlike him to feel that sort of emotion at all. And even more so to feel it towards a boy—Lee, to be precise.

"Do you like helping people?" the black-haired ninja asked, voice full of innocent curiosity. Another weird question. Lee was simply full of them today, wasn't he?

"I….I think I do, in the long run," he said cautiously. He didn't know why Lee was asking him this, but it made him…uncomfortable. Like his light was expected to match that of Lee's, something he knew his dark heart could never manage. He felt his own measly light falter at that thought and almost go out completely, but when Lee smiled at him, he felt it flaring up, threatening to break out in a grin across Gaara's face.

However, he'd always been good at restraining his light.

"Well, Gaara-san, I think I should be going," Lee said, standing. Gaara did too—one glance at the sun told him that he was almost late. He'd have to hurry, but he'd be able to make it. No problem. What would be a problem, however, was leaving Lee.

He stood as well, and for a while, neither of them moved. Finally, Lee felt his hand bring itself to rest on the redhead's shoulder for a moment before letting it drop and hurrying off.

Something about the leaf ninja's hand had left a very warm, very pleasant spot on the Kazekage's shoulder that he quite enjoyed.

He arrived at the Hokage's office in a very good mood.

**AN:: Hopefully more in-character than the last two chapters—which I'll be editing, hopefully soon. Also, I got such nice reviews from you guys on the last chapter!! You're sooo nice to me, you guys!! –glomps you all– Well, look forward to the next chapter! Things are finally getting fluffy!! J**


	5. Denial

**AN:: I'm having fun writing this, lawlz. I love GaaLee. Also, if anybody has any good GaaLee stories, please let me know so I can read them. :3**

Chapter Five:: Denial

Lee walked gleefully back to the training grounds, stomach full of ramen and heart full of Gaara. The Kazekage and Naruto's favorite food turned out to be the perfect combination. Full and content with life, Lee smiled and nodded greeting to everyone he saw on his way back. This included Tenten, who accompanied him on his walk.

"So Lee, I saw you and Gaara-kun at Ichiraku just now," she said casually. Lee grinned.

"I'm sorry I didn't invite you too, Tenten, but I had just met Gaara-san on my way there," he explained apologetically. She shook her head.

"No Lee, it's fine. You two looked quite happy," she said, a little more suggestively this time. Lee glanced at her, but smiled anyway—he was an expert at smiling.

"Gaara-san's company is enjoyable," he said truthfully. More than enjoyable—his lunch had made Lee's whole day. But he wouldn't say that. Not to Tenten. Not to anyone.

"Hmm," she said lightly, studying her companion's face carefully. If her suspicions were correct, many things would change—for better or for worse all depended on what she was willing to do to help.

"Lee," she said. The black-haired boy turned his head, eyebrows raised in question. "How do you feel about Gaara?" she asked fairly bluntly. She hadn't wanted to be so straightforward, but he clearly wasn't going to elaborate on the subject of his love life.

Lee was taken aback by this question. Stopping mid-step, he turned his whole body to face Tenten.

"Well….," he began. "Gaara-san has become a very good friend of mine. I trust and respect him," Lee said honestly. He decided that Tenten had no reason not to trust this answer, and continued walking. His teammate caught up and fell into step with him.

"Is that all?" she asked after a few moments of walking silently. Lee looked up at the sky for a minute, pondering his answer.

"He…has become an important person to me," he said softly, "and I've grown to want to protect him." With this he gave a sheepish smile and added, "Not that Gaara-san needs much protection. But protection of the heart is another kind."

Tenten smiled in realization when Lee said this. Realization that this feeling she'd suspected of him really ran deeper than she'd first thought. Realization that she was actually right. Realization that she would have to intervene if she ever wanted this feeling to be known by both sides.

"Lee….do you love him?" she asked quietly. Lee stopped again, blushing furiously.

"What!?" he exclaimed, surprised. She sighed.

"Do you love Gaara?" she asked again, a bit impatient this time. Lee's face turned tomato-red, until Tenten was sure it was impossible to get any shade redder. He was practically glowing.

"N-no, Tenten!! Of course not! I value Gaara-san only as a very good friend, nothing more!" he said hurriedly, flustered. Tenten gave a small smile.

"It's okay, Lee, you can tell me," she said sweetly, smiling at her companion. Lee shook his head.

"There's nothing else to say," he insisted. "Gaara-san is only my friend. I am not in love with him," he said decisively. Tenten was right in suspecting that his heart was screaming the opposite at him.

"Lee….," she said, exasperated at his persistence at denying his heart its full say. "If you admit it, you'll make it a lot easier on yourself, you know," she said, giving one last try to get the Green Beast to open up. He shook his head, his blush heating up again.

"I cannot, because it's not true," he said, notes of self-convincing in his voice. She knew he was trying just as hard to get himself to believe his words as he was her. By the sound of it, and the far-off, preoccupied look in his eye, he was failing.

"Well, I have to go meet Neji," she said, smiling excitedly. "I'll catch you later, Lee!" He grinned half-heartedly, waving her off. He continued walking, quickening his pace. He needed his training.

---

Little did either ninja know that the Sand siblings Gaara and Temari were having a similar conversation on their way to the Hokage's office.

"Gaara!" the blonde yelled, jogging to catch up to her brother, who did not stop for her. She smiled. Gaara gave a nod of greeting.

"Temari, good afternoon," he said politely. This caught the kunoichi off-guard. He was rarely polite to her—especially when she interrupted him or tagged along on his important meetings.

"How are you, Gaara-ototo?" she said sweetly, hoping that, if something was wrong, he'd be able to tell her, at least.

"I'm feeling quite well, and yourself?" he replied pleasantly. She did not fail to notice that he didn't comment on her suffix for him—something he didn't normally like at all—the fact that he was hardly ever doing 'quite well', and that he never asked her how she was doing.

"Fine." Something was wrong with her brother. Had that fuzzy-eyebrows slipped him something when they'd been eating? No, Gaara didn't look phased, just…happily distracted. Yeah.

"Did you have a nice lunch with Lee?" she asked, trying not to let on too heavily that she'd been watching them suspiciously the whole time. Gaara smiled slightly—a rare sight even for his sister.

"I did," he answered happily, officially weirding Temari out to no end. There was something here that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it seemed familiar….

"So, you seem to get along with that boy pretty well," she pointed out slyly. Her brother nodded, jade eyes not quite comprehending her question.

"He is very….interesting," he replied, voice far-off, as though his mind wasn't all the way in the conversation. Temari raised her eyebrows, a sign to elaborate. Gaara caught this and kept going.

"He's so talented…and it was all through hard work, completely different from Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun and I," he said amazedly, admiration clear in his voice. "I put him through so much…and still he's so kind to me. It's….new," the Shukaku container said, softer than before. His sister did not know what to make of this, but the familiarity of his tone was becoming clearer and clearer. She still couldn't place it, but it was something she knew she'd experienced before….

"New? And, what do you think of it?" she inquired, knowing well that his next answer would set off that last alarm that would tell her exactly what her sibling was suffering from. A moment's silence as he thought about his answer.

"…I think I like it," he replied quietly, eyes glazed over as he stared at the ground in front of him. Suddenly, it snapped together. She knew this feeling he was emanating, she knew this tone he was using.

"You love him," she said tersely after a second's pause. Gaara stopped. And stared. And felt his face heating up terribly.

"No," he corrected, "I don't. I respect him. There's a difference." He fought hard to keep his face from matching his hair. Temari smirked.

"No, Gaara-niichan, I think you love him," she cooed, voice sickeningly sweet to the Kazekage. He hesitated.

"I don't," he repeated. "I do not love Rock Lee." Once again, his sister could only smile knowingly. This annoyed him.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked seriously, drilling the question into his jade eyes. Now Gaara hesitated again, looking thoughtfully down the street.

"I don't have time for this," he said after a while. "I have a meeting with the Fifth, and you and your love-talk are going to make me late," he said in a state of decisiveness, and then, before she could say another word, he'd turned and disappeared into the small crowd. Hiding in crowds seemed to be his specialty.

Temari sighed. His stubbornness would not help matters any, and if she wanted him to be happy, she would have to help in some way or another.

Little did she know that Tenten was thinking the exact same thing.

**AN:: Kinda short, or so it seemed while I was writing it. Well, the next chapter will probably be really boring, but the one after will be more interesting. I promise. I love your reviews, keep 'em coming!! 3**


	6. Teamwork

**AN:: Warning: REALLY SHORT. The next chapter will be a lot longer and hopefully posted soon. :3**

Chapter Six:: Teamwork

As the day came to a close, Gaara strolled through the sunset-painted streets tired but content. His meeting had accomplished quite a bit. Not only that, but he now had at least 2-3 free days of nothing but enjoying Konoha because they needed to wait for a reply from the Feudal Lord of the country of Fire. He glanced around and, upon seeing and sensing nobody, sighed, and allowed himself a big, quick smile.

---

"Do you see what I'm talking about?" the blonde kunoichi asked her friend, who could only stare in wide-eyed horror/surprise/confirmation at Gaara's odd smile. "He's never smiled like that before we came here. I've seen him do it before, too—after that reunion with your team, for example. Only when he's been around Rock Lee," Temari continued, her conclusion evident in her voice. "The only concern I have is…does your team-mate feel the same about my brother?"

Tenten did not hesitate in answering this.

"Of course he does. It's so obvious. Lee is always very kind to people, never wanting anyone to feel left out or alone, but he seems doubly drawn to Gaara-kun—even more so than he is with Sakura. It's something even Neji's noticed," she replied enthusiastically. Temari had no trouble believing this—she'd seen the way Lee was with her brother as well.

"Do you think he'll make a move sometime soon?" the Suna ninja asked. She could easily leave her brother's relationship alone and make sure it was none of her concern until they left Konoha, but only if something happened soon. If they remained oblivious to each other, Temari would have to deal with Gaara's excessively dark mood and Kankuro's dense attitude until their next visit. This was something she did _not_ want.

"Well…," Tenten paused now, remembering his recent attempts at snagging Sakura's heart. Temari sighed as the brunette shook her head. If Lee still believed he loved Sakura, nothing would waver his 'love' if things went on as they were.

"Tenten, you know we can't let them keep up like this," she stated worriedly, crossing her arms and standing from their hiding spot. Her companion sighed and stood up as well, nodding.

"But what are we supposed to do about it?" she pouted, putting her hands on her hips. Now, Tenten did not usually talk much with Temari, but there was no mistaking the glow in the blonde's eye as she next spoke.

"We'll just have to push them in the right direction."

---

The next day, the same two kunoichi met at a little food joint for breakfast. The night before, they'd agreed to play matchmaker for Lee and Gaara while the Sand siblings were in Konoha. After that, it would be up to the two boys. However, they had yet to decide what their first plan of action would be.

"_I_ think we should write love letters," Tenten said, biting into her onigiri and looking out the window. She heard Temari laugh.

"Love letters?" she snorted, giving her an are-you-serious? type look. "Are you like, two years old?" Tenten's face flushed as she crossed her arms, disgruntled.

"It could work…," she said, her mind coming up with any and all ways love letters could push the two together in a good way. The blonde shook her head.

"No. No, no it couldn't. We need a way to get them alone together….someplace romantic. That, or a way to get one to tell the other he loves him," she said, thinking out loud. Tenten thought on her words, spinning her straw in her lemonade. She was no good at this sort of thing—Sakura would be a much better choice to go to for matchmaking ideas. Actually, Sakura wasn't that bad of an idea in itself, really.

"You know, Lee still thinks he loves Sakura…and she's much better at matchmaking than I am," Tenten started suggestively. Temari caught her drift and leaned back in her chair, pondering this. Sakura would probably do a lot to keep Lee from following her forever when she just couldn't return the poor boy's love, and Tenten was right—she was good with relationships, in general, so she could be of some help.

"Alright," the Sand ninja decided. "Once we finish breakfast, if you can skip out on training for a little bit, we'll head over to the hospital and see if we can snag her." Tenten grinned. Getting Guy to let her get together with her girlfriends would be a piece of cake.

So, as soon as both had finished their food, they paid and left. The weapons-master lead the way, and soon Guy's flamboyant green jumpsuit came into view.

"Guy-sensei!" called Tenten, waving the older man over. He greeted them with a bright smile and a thumb's-up.

"Good morning, Tenten! Isn't today a bright and youthful day? Perfect for training!" he said energetically. Watching him almost made Temari tired, he had so much energy.

"Actually, Guy-sensei, I was hoping I could go with Temari to the hospital to visit Sakura. A girl's get-together," she said, knowing he would suggest she take Lee with her. Even he had noticed Lee's strange behavior while Gaara was gone—he would sometimes be found sulking in the park, something Lee never did. That, or he would sometimes whisper the redhead's name under his breath during a training break, and everyone would pretend not to hear, even though Guy usually did and was worried sick.

"Ah! A get-together! How youthful! Yes, Tenten, go ahead!" he said exuberantly, waving them off. She nodded a quick 'thanks' and left.

Their trip to the hospital was peaceful enough. They didn't meet anyone, and enjoyed Konoha's warm morning. Their arrival was less peaceful. Apparently, Sakura was with one of the ANBU ninjas in critical care and the two were caught in a flurry of running medical ninjas as they tried to make their way through the building.

After a half-hour of waiting, a pink-haired girl came out of ICU, and upon seeing Tenten and Temari, rushed happily over.

"Good morning, Temari, Tenten," Sakura greeted cheerfully. They smiled in return, and they all went out into the lobby to sit down.

"Sakura, we were wondering if you could possibly help us with something," Temari inquired casually. Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"Sure, what can I do?" she replied. Tenten grinned.

"Well, we think Gaara and Lee—" she started, but Sakura interrupted her.

"Feel something for each other? Of course. And I'd love to help."

The three girls smiled. This would be fun.

**AN:: Yay. By the end of the week, hopefully, the next one will be posted. :)**


	7. The Second Date

**AN:: I HOPE this chapter will have some fluff in it. If I have my way and inspiration hits me at the right time, it WILL.**

Chapter Seven:: The Second Date

It wasn't until lunchtime that Lee ran into Tenten again. He'd brought his lunch with him, but left his training ground anyway to eat with the rest of his team. He found Tenten, Guy and Neji in a clearing and went to sit with them, receiving a very energetic greeting from Guy.

Several minutes later, as Lee was about to leave again for solo training, Tenten caught him.

"Lee," she said sweetly, blocking his path to his training spot. He tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. "Sakura would like to talk to you later, if you could possibly find her. Alright?"

"Sakura-chan? Yosh!" he said energetically to his partner, immediately departing on his quest to find his beloved pink-haired kunoichi.

---

A certain redheaded Kazekage was having a similar noontime. After a very quick lunch at Ichiraku, he was off again, eager to visit Lee during his training time. However, his brother caught him on his way.

"Gaara," he greeted. The green-eyed boy nodded. "Temari is looking for you—she says it's important." Gaara refrained from rolling his eyes. Anything Temari needed to talk to him about was quite rarely 'important'.

The first place he headed was back to their hotel. As it turned out, this was a very smart choice, because he found her heading out the door just as he got there.

"Oh! Gaara, I was just about to come looking for you," she said, pausing to talk to him as she closed the door. He gave a 'hn', but nothing more. Taking this as a sign to continue, she said, "I want you to come to dinner at the Dragon Tea House for dinner tonight with Shikamaru and I."

This took Gaara completely by surprise. He whipped his head around to look her in the eye, and saw no trickery. She really did want Gaara to accompany her and Shikamaru to dinner that night. What was he supposed to say to that?

"….." was his answer. What does _anyone_ say to that?

"It'll be fun, Gaara, don't worry," she said sweetly, giving him the wettest, most puppy-dog-like face he'd ever seen. It worked on Kankuro, on Shikamaru, and on every other man in Suna.

It did not work on Gaara.

However, his sister had stayed out of his way for the most part during his business in Konoha. Now that he had free time, why not pay her back? Even if he had to sit through a make-out session between her and her boyfriend, he could always sneak off….

He was good at that.

"Fine." Temari grinned. A frightening sight for her younger sibling, who knew to dread his near future if that smile was meant for him.

Seeing no one else, he supposed it was.

This was confirmed when Temari grabbed his wrist excitedly and attempted to drag him off.

"Temari! What are you doing? Let me go-!" Gaara cried, knowing she would not harm him but being nevertheless afraid of where she was taking him.

"Gaara, we can't have you going to such a nice place dressed like _that_," she said, as if pointing out that the sky was indeed quite blue. This irritated her brother to the extreme. What was wrong with his clothes? He quite liked red—it was the only color he looked good in, in his opinion. Not that he paid much attention to any colors aside from red and black.

Still, a wardrobe change was _not_ on his list of things he wanted to do. Apparently, however, it was quite high on Temari's list of things for him to do. And, by the way she pulled him on now, it was near the top.

"Don't worry, I'll pay, just buy _one_ outfit, okay?" the blonde insisted, a pleading look plastered over her face. The Sand nin rolled green eyes, but nodded slightly. She grinned triumphantly.

After a few minutes of arguing, the siblings went into a store called 'Maekester: Men's' and were greeted by a friendly looking woman with a measuring tape around her neck.

"Hello, may I help you today?" she asked. Temari nodded, stepping forward.

"We're here to buy some clothes for my brother here, Kazekage Gaara," she said in ways of introduction. The girl's eyes widened a bit at first.

"The Kazekage-sama? Of course! Right this way," the girl—her nametag stated 'Lily' in bright red letters—said, leading them to another room. It had all kinds of clothes hanging from the walls, all in Gaara's size. He crossed his arms.

All the clothes were formal, dressy-type things.

"Temari, do we _have_ to do this?" he whined, narrowing his eyes at his sister, who smirked.

"Of course we do," she replied—in that 'Why yes, grass _is_ green' kind of tone. He was starting to really _hate _that tone.

The sand kunoichi began darting across the room, handing Gaara things she thought went together and instructing him to try them on. After several outfits and a very disgruntled Kazekage, they finally found something both could live with.

"Now, was that so bad?" Temari asked innocently. Her answer was a short grunt, which she giggled at. "Oh look, there's Shikamaru! Well, take your clothes home, and don't forget about tonight! We leave at five!" she called, taking off at the sight of her beloved shadow-possessor.

It was going to be a long day.

---

"Sakura-san! There you are, Sakura-san!" Lee called happily, running towards the aforementioned kunoichi. She turned and smiled as green eyes met green jumpsuit.

"Lee-kun, good afternoon," she said politely. He grinned as he reached her, a blush creeping across his features.

"Tenten said you were looking for me…?" he said, urging her to tell him what she needed. Anything for his dear Sakura-san! She smiled sweetly.

"Yes, Lee-kun. I was wondering if, perhaps, you'd like to get dinner with me tonight at the Dragon Tea House?" she asked nicely, catching Lee completely off-guard. His blush crept up to the tips of his hair and down his chin, coloring his entire face maroon.

"M-me? Of course, Sakura-san! I will be quite happy to be accompanying you to the Dragon Tea House tonight!" he replied energetically, a huge smile spreading across his face. This caused Sakura to smile, too. Things were going according to plan.

"In that case, Lee, please meet me there at around five. I'll reserve the tables, don't worry about that," she assured him, and with that, she turned and left, calling out over her shoulder that she had training to do.

He grinned broadly; he couldn't wait to tell Guy about this.

So, naturally, that's what he did. And Guy informed him that now was his chance to shine, and for that he would need proper clothes.

"The Hokage-sama is keeping me quite busy, so I will not be able to accompany you," he said sorrowfully, putting his hand on his pupil's shoulder, "so you'll have to find proper youthful clothes on your own. I know you can do it, Lee!"

With that, Lee gave a happy 'Yosh!' and sped off towards the Konoha marketplace.

---

When five o'clock finally came, our two boys were more than ready. Ready for what was a different matter for the two of them—Gaara was ready only to get out of his apartment, while Lee was ready so dazzle for his Sakura-san.

Gaara walked with Temari and Shikamaru when the Chunin came to pick her up. He'd never been to the Dragon Tea House before, so he didn't know what to look for. However, he knew it when he saw it, that was for sure.

It was an elegant place in the middle of a lush garden, wet with dew and springing with life. Pale, ivory gates glowed eerily in the setting sun, and the entrance was decorated with vibrant stained-glass windows. On the inside, each table was dimly lit and far apart, obviously meant for couples. Beautiful carvings and sculptures of dragons and koi decorated the interior, and in the center was a delicate silver-and-ivory fountain.

They took a seat in the corner and ordered. Gaara wasn't in the mood for any food, so he only asked for honey-lemon tea. While he waited for the drink to come, he noticed another person in the half-light of the tea house—Rock Lee.

At first, he hadn't recognized him at all. But then, as he moved and spoke to the lady seating him, Gaara found that he knew those eyes, that dark hair and muscular form.

However, he was not clad in green spandex and mismatching orange legwarmers tonight. He wore instead a very fitting black-and-white tuxedo, obviously bought for the occasion. His shoes were shined and his hair combed, and he looked absolutely stunning with his black hair and eyes to match the outfit.

As a matter of fact, Gaara felt his breath be stolen from him by this Leaf ninja the moment he recognized him. And Temari didn't miss it, either. She'd seen Lee come in, too, and had watched her brother closely for a reaction. She got one, and couldn't wait for her plan to be put into action.

---

Lee was a bit disappointed at the sore lacking of Sakura when he'd arrived. The kind lady had seated him under their names, at a lovely table by a window but also in plain sight of the fountain, but the sight was rather strained without the kunoichi with him.

He didn't want to be rude, but after a while, when no one came, he decided to go ahead and order his orange spice tea. He didn't want food right now—just in case Sakura showed up.

Which she didn't.

So he continued waiting, all alone, the very sight of a miserable and dumped ninja. He was on the verge of crying. How could Sakura-san stand him up like this? It wasn't fair. What had he done?

Around this time was when he'd spotted Gaara.

The redhead was walking towards him—having apparently snuck away successfully from his sister and her boyfriend—and looking quite elegant while doing so.

Somehow, he'd gotten Temari to let him wear only red and black. He was now clad in a dark maroon long-sleeved shirt, high-necked and perfectly fitting to show off his smooth, unflawed figure. His pants were black—as were his shoes—and gave his behind a very nice shape. He also had his hair combed down flatter than normal, so a quite flattering halo of red now framed his startlingly green eyes.

Lee could only stare until he'd walked all the way over and was standing in front of him. He did not smile, but nodded in greeting. Lee gave a sort of far-off grin, a look that clearly stated—to all but the socially retarded Gaara—that he was still not quite all-together.

"Why, good evening, Gaara-san!" Lee said. "What brings you here?" Gaara scowled, a very annoyed look chipping its way into his jade eyes.

"Temari dragged me here. But she's far too busy with Shikamaru over there—" with this he gave a sharp nod in his sister's general direction—"to notice if I'm gone or not. I noticed that you're not here with anyone, so I thought I'd sneak off and keep you company."

For starters, Lee had never heard Gaara form a sentence that long before. Then again, he'd also never seen Gaara with his hair combed into a very tame mop of red hair, or with anything more fitting than that brown vest-like shirt he always wore. So he decided it was only suiting that he should also surprise Rock Lee with a very long sentence and an invitation for company.

"Yes, please do sit down," Lee said politely. "I was waiting for Sakura-san, but I suppose she isn't coming….," he said disappointedly. "Training with Tsunade-sama must have held her up." Even Gaara could tell Lee didn't believe this excuse, but said nothing. He didn't want to make Lee think that Sakura had stood him up—even if it was true. He thought about punishing the pink-haired girl the next day, but decided against it; he didn't need Lee angry with him for harming his precious little woman.

Gaara sat down across from Lee—which, at the minimum-sized table, wasn't really that far from him. Their knees actually touched when he sat comfortably, causing him to fight quite hard to keep a blush down.

A waitress chose this moment to appear, smiling elegantly. "Hello, welcome to the Dragon Tea House. My name is Shin, and I'll be your waitress for the night. Can I get you two anything?" she asked, obviously viewing the two boys as one unit. Lee flushed slightly.

"I will have one of your specials," Lee said, taking a chance because he didn't know exactly what that was tonight. After a moment of scribbling, the waitress turned to Gaara, who shrugged.

"The same," he said, eyes wandering out the window to the glittering white moon, and the stars it was never without. The waitress soon departed, leaving Konoha's lotus and Suna's demon by themselves. A few silent moments passed, in which the latter almost forgot who he was with.

"The moon is beautiful tonight," Lee stated softly, jerking his companion's attention back to their table from its previous cosmic daydreams. Green eyes snapped back to Lee's face, but he wasn't looking; the Leaf nin was gazing out the window now, too, admiring the sky's beauty.

"The moon….," Gaara repeated quietly. "But it has a dark side, too," he murmured sadly. Lee tore his eyes away from the heavens to look at his friend.

"But Gaara," he began, "everything and everyone does, you know." Gaara's eyes widened in surprise. Then a glint of defiance crept into them, which rather took Lee by surprise. Surely Gaara would know about every human's dark side better than anyone…? Lee knew it was there—certainly, he did. But he accepted it along with the good, rather than separating it, and that made everyone seem whole to him.

"_You_ don't," he heard the redhead state childishly. He couldn't help but laugh pleasantly at this.

"Of course I do, Gaara-san! But," he said kindly, "I let the power of youth take over my dark side, and it keeps it in check! Guy-sensei taught me that long ago." He grinned proudly at the mention of his teacher. Gaara suddenly wished he had someone to grin proudly at, too.

There followed a rather awkward silence in which Gaara tried to observe Lee out of the corner of his eye and Lee tried to be polite but not make Gaara feel uncomfortable at the same time. For both, it was difficult.

That was when the waitress came back with their food. Apparently, that night's special was sukiyaki, not exactly tongue for Gaara but very good nonetheless. They thanked the waitress and she left.

Gaara found that food on the table suddenly made the silence much less awkward as they busied themselves with eating it. However, it seemed that nothing could save Gaara from his becoming-frequent blush attacks, for every time he reached for salt, soy sauce, or even his napkin, his hand would brush against Lee's and the feeling of his hot skin against the Kazekage's would color his face embarrassingly.

If Lee noticed, he said nothing, but made a sort of light, easy small-talk as they ate, for which Gaara was grateful. He loved listening to his companion talk—though he disliked talking himself, he would, if it meant getting a reply.

The redhead ate slowly, finding more pleasure in his friend than in his meal. Eventually, though, their meals were both gone and all that was left was good company.

Lee sighed in content and smiled softly, glancing at the window again. Gaara looked around and tried to find his sister, but the place was too dimly lit for that, so he trained his eyes on Lee and fell silent.

"Well Gaara-san, I wish I did not have to, but I must be heading home," Lee said, sadness at departing obvious in his voice. Gaara nodded and they split the tab, then stood to leave. They began heading towards the exit, but the Kazekage tugged lightly on Lee's sleeve as the fountain caught his eye. Lee glanced at him and followed him over to it.

"Toss in a coin; make your wish come true'," Gaara read from a sign leaning against the beautiful structure. Lee smiled.

"Turn around, Gaara-san," he said, and they both stood with their backs to the fountain. He could feel Gaara blush as he slipped a coin into his friend's hand.

"One…two…_three_," he whispered, and they both tossed their coins over their shoulders and into the blue-white waters of the Dragon Tea House fountain.

Gaara turned around to look, trying to find his coin amongst the others people had thrown in. Lee watched him with an odd feeling of protective affection building up in his stomach, until the Sand nin turned and began to once again walk towards the door.

Lee followed, and when they were outside, Gaara said, "Lee, I'll walk home with you." It took Lee by surprise, but he nodded, feeling his face redden slightly as they began walking.

The night air was chilly, but felt good after the heat and intimacy of the tea house. Gaara looked up at the moon and found comfort in its white glow.

When, at long last, the two reached Lee's home, they paused outside his door. He turned to Gaara and smiled warmly at his companion.

"Gaara-san, Sakura-san did not come, but I had a wonderful time with _you _there," he said softly, his tone making Gaara's face red.

Said Kazekage could do nothing but nod before muttering a quick, "Good night, Lee-kun," and disappearing into the night.

Gaara allowed himself a smile.

Lee looked up at the moon and smiled, too.

**Sukiyaki: Sliced Choice Beef or Chicken, Yam Noodles, Tofu, Fresh Sliced Vegetables and Bamboo Shoots**

**AN:: EEP. xD That was fuuun. And I also only have a few more chapters left until this story is DONE! YAY! I'll be SO happy then. 3 Please review, I love you guys:)**


	8. Uncertainties

**AN:: Kukuku, I just love you all. 3 However, this one'll probably be a shortie. Sorries. ;.; ALSO! Lots of dialogue. Apologies!! T.T**

Chapter Eight :: Uncertainties

Rubix cubes. A completely pointless invention, in most people's opinions. The more you try and figure them out, the more complicated and mind-boggling they became. Play with them long enough, and the weaker of mind will be so frustrated they will simply give up and walk away.

Now, granted, Rock Lee had never wasted his youthful training time with something as petty as a rubix cube, but he'd once seen Tenten with one and knew well how the little blocks of color could infuriate someone with their simple complexity. So it was of this little toy that Lee found he could relate his situation to as he got up the next morning and was flooded by memories of the night previous.

His feelings towards Gaara were strong but mixed, tangled in death-grips around his confused heart and blocking out his mind completely. This made him unable to decipher any of the feelings at all, leaving him feeling quite overwhelmed and uncoordinated. Actually, the harder he tried understanding his own feelings towards the redhead, the more confused he seemed to be.

He thought about it when he brushed his teeth. He thought about it as he combed his hair. He thought about it as he got dressed. He thought about it as he ate breakfast. He thought about it on the way to training and, consequently, was more than a little late.

Yet still he could not determine what he felt.

It certainly did not help that confusion and discomfort were practically tattooed in neon, glow-in-the-dark ink all over his face.

"Lee, is something the matter? You're very _off_ today," Guy asked concernedly during practice when Lee missed his third kick in a row. Said Chunin sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm alright, Guy-sensei," he said, quite without the normal cheer and sparkle of his attitude. This did not help Guy's suspicion any.

"Is it to do with Sakura? Or maybe…maybe Lee's finally found true love!?" Guy inquired, becoming excited at the thought of his pupil engaging in the wild and crazy adventure entitled Love. Lee jumped slightly, quite surprised. He waited, but no heat rose to his cheeks, no denial sprang to his lips.

"I was right? Oh, that's wonderful, my youthful pupil!" Guy yelled, overjoyed now at his obvious triumph in the guessing game of the source of Lee's confusion. The leaf ninja stared off, appearing to be intently studying the tree behind his beloved teacher.

"Guy-sensei…I don't know," he said, sighing in defeat. He simply didn't understand. The more he thought about it, the more confusing it got.

Like a rubix cube.

At first, Guy didn't say anything. He put a hand on his pupil's shoulder gently.

"Lee…," he said in his ear, softly, so that Neji and Tenten couldn't hear. "Is it Gaara?" Lee couldn't believe it. Why did everyone always assume it was Gaara? Then again…it _was_ Gaara, wasn't it? So it was only right for people to think it was him. Still, he didn't like to think that it was seriously obvious for everyone but him.

"I don't know," the Green Beast repeated, frustration sneaking up on him again. He was starting to hate this. This fluttery, almost-like-a-tickle-but-more-violent kind of feeling in his stomach was most infuriating.

Frustrating, like rubix cube.

But certainly not useless like one.

"Well, my student, before you make any rash moves, you must _make sure_ that he's the one. Also," he said cheerfully, "I believe that he feels the same way you do. Continue on in the path of love, my youthful pupil!"

Lee gave an encouraged smile, and with that, headed off for practice, all the while wondering whether or not he'd been lying to Tenten before when he said they were just friends.

Poor Gaara suffered in a similar way. As soon as Temari had discovered where he'd gone during their Dragon Tea House outing, she had been bothering him incessantly for answers as to what exactly they did and how they did it.

"Temari, for the _last_ and _final_ time, _nothing_ happened," Gaara said, teeth grinding in frustration. The blonde, however, showed absolutely no signs of slowing down.

"So how _exactly_ did he look at you when you were by the fountain? How far apart were you two when you walked him home? Is that really _all _he said when you separated?" she questioned, mouth going a mile a minute and almost talking Gaara's ear off.

"_Temari!!_" he snapped, cutting her short as she started her next question. "_Why_ do you care so much about Lee and I?" he demanded to know. Temari just gave him an incredibly stupid look, that one that was mentioned before that clearly said, 'You really don't know?'

"Because, dear brother," she started, "I want to make sure you're getting a really good boyfriend, and Lee, though weird, is honorable and hardworking, so I approve of him."

Gaara's mouth _almost _dropped open to hang on his jaw hinges. However, being Kazekage, he was trained in the ways of politics and controlled himself carefully.

"Temari, I don't know what you're talking about," he said simply. Said sister rolled her eyes.

"Gaara, his feelings for you are almost painfully obvious," she stated, "and it's killing Kankuro and I to watch you sit around densely."

Gaara considered killing her at that moment.

Instead, he fled to the roof, where he could watch the clouds roll by peacefully and think about what his sister had said.

_Love._

That was the first thought that came to mind. But it was only a word….right? Could Lee really love someone like him? Temari had said that his feelings were painfully obvious...did that mean that everyone saw them but Gaara?

If so, he needed to do something. He wasn't sure what, though. He was not in love; if he was, then surely he'd know…correct? But no, that wasn't right. He could never know, because as far as he knew, he'd never felt it before.

What did that leave him with? Not a whole lot. How was he to work on this problem if he didn't have any reference as to what love was supposed to feel like?

Then again, maybe it was different for everyone. He supposed, in the end, that he would just have to go along and ride the ride and see how it turned out.

He felt his heart give a leap as he thought, 'I hope it turns out that he really does love me.' Though he mentally slapped himself for thinking that, his leaping heart could not deny that he was every bit correct.

**AN:: That's all for now! Told you it would be short. T.T Oh well. The next one will, hopefully, be longer. Enjoy!**


	9. Trap

**AN:: Hope you enjoy it. :3 Thanks for the reviews—especially Crimson Wing, you are amazing. 3 However, there will be quite little fluff in this chapter. T.T I'm sorry!**

Chapter Nine:: Trap

Now, neither Rock Lee or Gaara had ever thought of their teams as particularly mean people—or conniving, or scheming, or planning people, either. However, both teams seemed awfully determined to prove the two wrong as they called for a meeting the next day at the Lion's Den Café, a very simple place where each bought a tea or coffee and sat down to think.

In this unique party sat Neji, Sakura, Tenten, Guy, Temari and Kankuro, all set on a certain goal: the united love of Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee.

They had each been thinking about this since the day the two boys were seen at Ichiraku together and Tenten and Temari had introduced the idea to both groups with great gusto. By now, it was more or less common knowledge, and they were determined to find a way to make the love permanent. As a matter of fact, that was the object of that day's meeting.

Tenten had once again brought forth the idea of love letters, but almost everyone had pointed out successfully that if they pursued that idea, Lee and Gaara would find out it was them and their emotions might go a bit differently than planned. That, and both groups might get blamed for any and all fights the two boys had later in the relationship—though it was also agreed that they probably wouldn't have many. So it was back to square one for our team of matchmakers.

Temari suggested that they throw out another planned date like last time, but Guy opposed this by saying that it had rather hurt Lee that Sakura had stood him up. At this point Sakura seemed to jolt suddenly, apparently in realization of some not-so-minor detail she needed yet to attend to.

"I absolutely forgot about that! I have to go see Lee _right_ now, before he thinks I really _did_ stand him up!" This sudden outburst came as much of a surprise to the team, but they nodded nonetheless, and Sakura rushed out of the café, on her way to the training grounds she knew Lee could be found at. Treading through the trees, she soon came upon Lee and Guy.

"Lee-kun!" she shouted, getting his attention and waving him over. His face visibly lit up as he excused himself from his training to walk over to her.

"Good morning, Sakura-san! How are you?" he asked, politely ignoring the leftover hurt from her stand-up the night before. She smiled and replied.

"I'm better, Lee-kun. But last night, I came down with something rather serious, and sent a messenger after you to tell you so, but I suppose he wasn't in time to keep you from leaving," she apologized sincerely, giving a bow. She could practically _feel_ the relief radiating from him in great, thick waves, washing away the disappointment and hurt. She smiled softly as he let a huge grin spread across his face.

"That's quite alright, Sakura-san! I am glad you're feeling well again," he exclaimed warmly, wholly accepting this excuse with open arms. She felt her smile widen.

"Well, I must be off, I'm meeting Temari for lunch later," she said in way of apology, and after a short bow, she did just that—she left.

Lee's training after that was considerably more accurate, his mind only bothered by Gaara in a far-off, echoing type of way and now fueled by his (although slightly weakened) desire to impress Sakura.

Back at the café, Sakura, Team Guy and Team Baki (excluding Lee and Gaara, of course) planned out the next scheme, having already decided on a party while Sakura was gone. They decided it would be held at Sakura's house, for hers was the second biggest, and Neji's family would never allow it to take place at his, and Tenten's home had too many sharp, potentially dangerous objects lying around. Oh, and of course, nobody in their right mind would go into Guy's home. Ever.

So it was decided, and planned, and invitations were sent out. During the day, they even handed them out to people they didn't know—the bigger the party, the better. They exchanged party favor ideas, got Hinata and Sakura together in the kitchen for a while to cook up some things, ransacked Neji's kitchen to find a punch bowl, and rather attacked the shops for balloons and streamers and such. They even went so far as to barter part of Sakura's collection of soppy, erotic romance novels for Kakashi's quite loud and quite _big_ stereo set for the party.

It was going to happen in two days.

And they were determined that the party would not be _all_ that happened.

**AN:: I AM SO SORRY FOR LACK OF UPDATES, PLEASE DON'T KILL!! –hides– Anyway, this chapter sucked but the next should be up soon enough, mmkay? Love you guys and I love reviews. And if I can get 10 for this chapter and the next, guess what you guys get? –gasp– A hidden scene after the last chapter! OH NO! So review and make Kuru happy! 3**


	10. The Third Date

**AN:: Insert serious fluff. I love you reviewers! I really do:D**

Chapter Ten:: The Third Date

The day of the party, everyone was a bit riled up. There was a kind of tension in training that could only be released through games, dancing and obnoxiously loud music, something a ninja didn't get very often. Gaara and Lee had once again been dragged off by various team members to buy proper clothing – "Gaara, black isn't a color, it's a tone, and you _can't_ wear only black to a party!"; "No, I'm afraid a jumpsuit isn't proper party attire—but don't worry, I know where we can go to fix you up!" – and so hadn't seen each other all day.

That night, when Lee walked into Sakura's house wearing a pair of black slacks with lime green pinstripes, a loud green studded belt, assorted wristbands, a studded necklace and a black muscle shirt, he felt very awkward and out of place – that is, until he saw the crowd. Everyone there was wearing clothes similar to his – some more outrageous, some more modest, but all the same rave style – and he no longer cared that his wristbands slightly itched, or that his belt kept slipping down on one side of his hips, or that his muscle shirt made him feel like a whore. He fit in, which is really all that mattered at this party, this place where nobody cared what anybody else was doing.

It was unlike anything Lee had ever seen. There were people there that he'd never even seen before, people on the makeshift dance floor who were somehow kissing while dancing to the loud music at the same time, straight couples and gay couples and lesbian couples, everybody with everybody else, everybody with nobody at all, just themselves, the music, the dance floor and the blur of glowstix and colors. A table was set against a back wall laden with food, punch, sake and things Lee had never seen anyone eat before.

Lee made his way cautiously but entranced to the dance floor, searching for Gaara in the colorful flood of people. Unable to find him, he ventured forward, determined to find someone he knew. As soon as he was on the dance floor, the flow of people pulled him, and he was soon caught up in the music, and he found himself awkwardly being taught to dance by Sakura. She put her hands on his hips, instructing him to do the same, and it was a wonder he could keep up with the fast beat of her body and the music and lights…

And that's how Gaara found them.

At first Lee hadn't noticed him, his eyes focused on Sakura, on learning this strange new dance, but then her eyes had been averted, looking instead to the left, and he looked too.

They both stopped dancing when Gaara ran off.

The pull of the crowd told them clearly to keep dancing or get off the floor, so Lee did the latter, quickly running after his friend. As soon as he was off the floor, however, the redhead was nowhere to be found. Search as Lee did, all he could do in the end was find a semi-deserted hallway – the only people were couples searching for a private place to make out – and sink against the wall, wondering why his dance had meant so much to Gaara and wondering why he was so upset about it.

He was sitting against a door, and as he slumped his head against it heavily, he could hear the sharp hiss of restless sand, and almost hit the ceiling when he jumped up. He quietly opened the door to find a very confused Gaara sitting on the bed, sand streaming steadily from his gourd, which sat abandoned next to it. His eyes were shut tight in concentration, one hand on his 'Love' kanji. His breath was uneven, shuddering, as he tried to control it.

And Lee thought this was the only time he'd seen Gaara about to cry.

He stepped forward, quietly, the awkward sounds of his new clothes muffled by the hissing, stirring sand. Closer, closer, he reached out his hand, placed it on Gaara's shoulder.

He froze. The sand gave one final hiss as it pulled itself back into the gourd. The Kazekage opened his eyes, and looked around at Lee, his face showing humiliation and embarrassment and something cold, like he'd been telling himself 'I told you so' with every breath.

"Gaara-san, are you alright?" Lee asked concernedly. It was no fake concern, either, and Gaara could see that in his eyes, and hear it in his voice, and feel it in his touch. And he realized then that Lee hadn't meant anything by his dance with Sakura. But then, with a stab of regret, he realized Lee might not mean anything by _this,_ either. And something inside of him said, one more time, "I told you so."

"I'm fine, Lee-kun," he said quietly. "I have just been letting the stress of work catch up to me….and with everyone busy at the party, slipping away now was the easiest choice." His voice was formal, business-like. Lee hated that tone. He was too used to it. He knew it too well. It's the voice he _always _heard, except for lately. The Green Beast found himself loving every bit the voice Gaara had been slipping into lately, around him, only for him. It pained him to watch Gaara keep it from him again—that shy, emotional tone, tender, like it hadn't been used in a very long time; like it hadn't let the world hear it in so long, and was so afraid someone wouldn't want to hear it now.

Lee did, though.

He moved to sit across from Gaara, on his knees, and leaned forward, moving his hand to Gaara's shoulder, gently. He looked at him, eyes soft and welling with emotion, the redhead almost couldn't resist moving forward and touching their lips together—although the thought of that action almost frightened him.

Lee was having the same urge, but resisted. He did not want to hurt Gaara, or rush his feelings. He would take this slow. He would let it fold out with time.

He would not, under any circumstance, hurt Gaara.

So as badly as he wanted to touch his sand-armor-less skin, he instead spoke.

"Gaara," he said, purposefully leaving out the respectful suffix, "I do not want to see you stressed—or upset," he added, to let the Kazekage know that his dance with Sakura was harmless, "and I think that you should relax, have a good time." He spoke gently, softly, voice full of emotion, eyes mirroring every bit of it. And he spoke softly, too; he was speaking to Gaara and only to Gaara, no one else could hear, this was only meant for him….

Before he could stop himself, he'd reached up, stroked Lee's cheek once, softly, and pulled the leaf nin into a gentle, awkward, uneasy hug.

But it was the best contact Lee had ever had with someone.

---

The two boys rejoined the party then, and in the few minutes spent in the spare bedroom, the 'dance floor' had spread, and there was hardly any room for the snack table anymore—not that anyone was using it, except Chouji. But even he was entranced with the dancing, with the throbbing beat of music.

The best part was the crowd.

They were all dancing a different dance, nobody's was matching but everyone's flowed. There were couples everywhere, straight couples, gay couples, lesbians. Even a handful of single people. Sometimes a few couples broke off and danced with other people, other singles, just for fun, but it all flowed to the pumping music.

The bright purple-and-black light glow cast from various places in the room created a very party-ish effect, entrancing Gaara and Lee and pulling them toward the throng of people and dance and light. At the edge of the dance floor, Lee extended a hand towards his friend.

"Would you like to dance, Gaara-san?" he asked, almost having to yell to hear himself above the music, which was clearly not made for talking. Gaara looked from his hand to his face, and finally took it smiling.

"Just 'Gaara'," he said in his ear so he could hear him. Lee grinned and lead him onto the dance floor.

Now, Lee had never wasted training time on this kind of thing, of course. And Gaara had never been allowed to attend the Sunagakure festivals until he was Kazekage, and by then he was far too busy. So, neither of them having ever learned how to dance, they weren't sure where to start, and stood awkwardly on the dance floor.

This was not to be heard of, because there would be no 'standing' on the dance floor, only 'dancing', as the crowd said. After getting pushed around a few times—and bumped closer to one another—they both decided to just start moving.

And once they did, they couldn't stop. They learned quickly that it was easier to just do what felt the easiest for them, to make whatever move they could from the position they were in at that second, and not stop, and not move their eyes from each other.

And soon hands were introduced, and hips and shoulders, and their dance took on a whole new edge, one that was carefully, almost seductive, but still controlled, still just friendly. But only by a little.

Lee couldn't have looked away from Gaara if he'd tried. He hadn't noticed before, but the outfit the sand nin was wearing took his breath away, and now he couldn't keep his eyes off his face, his body, his hips….

He was wearing a bright red fitting tee with the sleeves cut off and some kind of black-and-white spray painted guitar and crossbones logo on it. He had on black gloves cut off at the knuckles that went up to above his elbow. His tee was cut off at the bellybutton and he wore a black fishnet shirt under it. He had on faded black jeans with bright red stitching and suspender-like straps that hung down around his hips and attached to his back belt-loops. They fit nicely and looked good with his dark red, black and green converse. He also wore a red belt with a row of spikes around it, and a chain that was thread through the belt-loops and hung down by his hip.

He looked amazing.

They kept dancing as long as they could, but finally got tired and had to go sit down by the snack table. Lee snuck a glance at Gaara, who sat in a chair quite close to him. He was grinning, having apparently enjoyed their dance. Lee grinned too. They both had.

"Let me get you some punch, Gaara," Lee said, remembering to hold off the 'san' bit. Gaara nodded thankfully and Lee went to fetch some. He found Naruto—who had somehow gotten out of his dance with Sasuke for a couple minutes—looking kind of guilty and lingering by the punch bowl.

"Hey Lee," he said, glancing at Gaara. "Enjoying the party?" he asked suggestively. Lee shook his head, smiling and rolling his eyes. He took two glasses of punch, and Naruto almost tried to stop him…

But thought better of it when he looked at Gaara again.

Lee sat down, handing one cup to Gaara.

"Thank you, Lee," he said, and Lee noted that lately he'd been slipping out of the 'kun' habit—for which he was thankful. He took a light sip of his punch and almost immediately started to feel slightly light-headed. He looked at Gaara take a long swig of it, and put his down, walking over to Naruto, whom Sasuke was now trying to drag back to the dance floor by means Lee had never seen him use before. They included lips, hands and hips.

Blushing slightly, Lee said, "Naruto, did you spike that punch?" Naruto looked sheepish in Sasuke's arms and gave a light nod. Lee sighed. He knew to stop drinking then.

He went back to the table to warn Gaara, but found that he'd already finished both of their cups and was swaying slightly in the chair, having clearly rarely consumed alcohol of any form.

"Gaara?" Lee said, unsure of how he'd react under the influence. Gaara looked at him and smiled.

"Hey there," he said lightly. Lee looked quizzically at him, but decided it wasn't too bad, and sat down. "How're you?" Gaara asked, giving him a lopsided grin.

"I'm fine, Gaara," Lee said, unsure of how to act around him now. "How are you?" It seemed a logical question, but Gaara didn't seem to hear him. He was watching the dance floor, clearly longing to return to it. Lee smiled softly, and pulled Gaara's hand, tugging him back to the booming dance floor.

---

**AN:: Please review!! Remember: 10 reviews for this chapter, the last one, and the next one and I'll add a hidden scene after the last chapter!!!**


	11. The First Kiss

**AN:: WEE NOW THE BEST PART COMES. D Enjoy**

Chapter Eleven:: The First Kiss

And that's where they were until the end of the party, which came not until two in the morning for most people, except the real late-nighters. By then the alcohol effect was wearing off slightly, and Gaara was beginning to act like himself again. A little.

"Gaara, I'll walk you back," Lee said, knowing how good-looking he was and what the shady people of Konoha could do to such a pretty little drunken thing at night. They walked to the door, the cool night air soothing to the aftermath of the hot party. The walk back to Gaara's hotel was fairly uneventful, but somewhere along the road he'd tripped, still not quite sober enough to walk straight, and Lee picked him up bridal-style and carried him the rest of the way.

"Looks like we've switched," Lee said when they reached the hotel room Gaara was staying in. He was, of course, referring to the fact that, earlier, it had been Gaara carrying a drunken and passed-out Lee home, and now it was the other way around.

"Can you stand?" Lee asked, and with a slight nod from the sand nin, he was placed on the floor in front of his hotel door. Fumbling in his pockets for a moment, he produced a small card-key, ready to put it in the door….

"Lee?" he asked softly, quietly. Lee almost wouldn't have heard him unless he'd been listening for his voice the way he was.

"Yes?" was his reply. The redhead turned around, but didn't say anything. He was looking down, looking obviously uncomfortable and unsure about what he was going to say. Lee reached out and touched his face, as he'd so longed to do, and lifted his chin so that their eyes met.

"You can tell me, Gaara," he said encouragingly, eyes soft and trustworthy. Gaara blushed, which Lee realized was a very cute feature on him.

"Well…," he began awkwardly, "I think….I think I love you." Lee's eyes widened, but before anything else could happen, Gaara had leaned upwards, having to stand on his tip-toes to reach, and pressed his lips shyly to Lee's.

The Green Beast couldn't help himself. His eyes fluttered easily shut, his hands snaking around Gaara's small waist, fingers tangling in the fishnet, his senses sparking at the touch of the redhead's soft skin.

Gaara reached up a hand to run through Lee's smooth onyx-shaded hair, losing himself in the kiss, before he was falling, down, black, sleep….

With a final dizzy wave before he passed out, Gaara slumped against Lee, barely being caught due to the surprise of his situation changing from a kiss to a drunken friend passed out in his arms. Lee's face held surprise, his face blushing violently, looking at the small man in his arms.

With a smile, Lee picked up Gaara's forgotten card key and dropped him on his bed inside.

"I think I love you too," he whispered, brushing his crimson hair aside and laying a gentle kiss on his kanji.

Love…

**AN:: Wow, I love you guys for reviewing!! You really rock!! I'm working on the next chapter, should be up shortly!! 3**


	12. Decisions

**AN:: Oh my, the last chapter!! Aren't we all just so excited?? And you guys rock, so 10 more reviews and I'll add a nice, fluffy little epilogue just for you. D (a fluffy epilogue that might change the rating of this story if you guys give me enough love)**

Chapter Twelve:: Decisions

Now, it was not particularly uncommon for Gaara to suffer from headaches. And it wasn't as though this one was really as severe as he was making it out to be. It was simply that, if he pretended like his headache was awful, no one would question his blatant refusal to partake in conversation. Because of course he didn't want to talk about it, about the kiss or the confession or the passing out. Only to Lee did he wish to speak of the previous night, and even of this he wasn't quite certain.

The night remained a bit foggy and a bit blurry to him. The one thing he remembered crystal clear after his first cup of punch was the kiss—the gentle melding of their bodies, the shifting of fabric as Lee wrapped his arms around the redhead, the compassion in the man's eyes as Gaara spilled his heart's deepest secret to him, the fire on his skin where Lee's fingers touched him….

And the final wave of dizzy blurriness as he'd passed out in his love's arms. That was what he remembered.

The young Kazekage was so embarrassed about the last piece of the night that he flat-out refused to leave his house until noon for fear of meeting Lee somewhere on the street.

Meeting Lee and facing his rejection.

Meeting Lee and having his newfound heart…broken.

Great.

Now, it wasn't particularly common for Lee to miss practice. As a matter of fact, Lee _never_ missed practice—at least, not without some kind of valid excuse or warning.

Point was, if Lee was missing practice, and no one knew the details, the world was ending. Period. To Lee, of course, the world had pretty much come to life and sang carols whilst throwing shiny petals in the air around him, which would explain his current out-of-character practice-skipping.

Lee was experiencing something no one could fathom. He himself wasn't sure what he was feeling anymore. There was a very angry, ferocious band of fiery butterflies in his stomach, not quite unfamiliar to him, but aiming for something different this time. He wanted to see Gaara. He had to, he absolutely had to. He had to tell him he loved him, because if he didn't—

Knowing Gaara's defensive, destructive nature, he was quite certain he did not want to know what would happen if he didn't.

Then again, he wasn't sure if Gaara would want to hear it, or if he'd even let him near enough to tell him. So Lee, being the decisive person he is, stayed at home waging an inner battle with himself until about noon, when he finally decided to talk to Gaara but first go get something nutritional to eat.

He decided on a small café, where no one was likely to find him, and had a nice lunch of onigiri and orange tea. A simple but efficient lunch it was, and Lee started off on his way to visit Gaara…and hopefully clear everything up.

Gaara, in his visits to Konoha, had taken to roaming the lesser populated streets and rooftops both at night and during the day. So it was in this way that he spotted an atrociously bright green jumpsuit and shiny bowl cut heading towards his hotel room at an easy pace. Gaara, being on the roof of a bar at the moment, hesitated, not entirely certain what to do, then decided without thinking to follow him.

Springing from roof to roof, having no trouble keeping up because Lee was not in any special hurry, Gaara pursued him, forcing any denial or refusal from his mind as his body tried to reject every movement he made towards him.

Finally, Lee came to a stop at the door of the hotel building. He took a visual breath, and reached his hand forward. It touched the cold metal of the knob and—

"Lee."

He stopped dead, his stomach shifting pleasurably at the way Gaara said his name. Turning slowly, a tense smile on his face, Lee's eyes locked with Gaara's. The redhead nodded in respect, and Lee did the same.

"Gaara. I've been wishing to speak with you," Lee said politely. Gaara briefly wondered what caused the change between perfect casualness of last night and this tense, too-polite Lee of today.

"And I you," the Sand nin responded. Lee took a few steps closer to Gaara—they were now about a foot apart.

"About last night," Lee began, formally and politely, but Gaara stopped him, sick of this change in atmosphere. He pressed his finger lightly to the Green Beast's lips, silencing him and bringing about a light flush to grace his cheeks.

"Gaara…," he whispered once the finger had been lowered. "Let me….put this in simple terms," he said with some trouble and a slight battle in his mind over what to say.

Gaara tensed visibly, ready for a rejection, ready to be refused and sent home, prepared to be left alone by this beautiful person once again—

But that was all he had time to prepare for, and it was wrong, because in that next moment, Lee was touching him, kissing him, holding him like some rare, tender flower he did not want crushed, lightly waiting for Gaara's response or approval or _something._

Then it was over, and Lee had let go of him, blushing like mad and avoiding Gaara's peridot-colored eyes as best he could, and Gaara standing there, his body sending too much blood to his face, his skin matching his hair—

He rushed forward, throwing himself in Lee's arms once more, burying his face in his shoulder, and finally, finally understanding what love was, what it could be, and accepting for the first time that someone could love him, too.

Finally he was ready to give love a try.

**AN:: IF I GET 10 REVIEWS, YOU GUYS GET TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO GAARA AND LEE AFTER THIS!! So review and show the author your LURVE. :D**


	13. Epilogue

**AN:: FINALY!! The long-awaited EPILOGUE!! I love you reviewers so very much, thank you for all the love and reviews!! Here's what you've all been waiting so eagerly for:3**

Epilogue

Lee had never once doubted what Tsunade could do—both with her mind and her strength. Never once did he doubt that she could heal his battered limbs, not once did he hesitate to trust his life and the lives of his comrades to her. Not once.

But he had been torn, in the worst way, as he and Gaara had walked to her office the next day to organize some form of permanent communication between the lovers. Little did he know that he need not be worried in the least.

It was funny, how women knew things no one else could have guessed. Especially this one, the Hokage. As soon as they'd entered through the doorway, she had smiled, smiled in that way she had that said she already knew, and proclaimed a new mission for Lee.

"This mission is a permanent, life-threatening post. I want you to take up residence in Sunagakure, and I want you to take dual-missions—both from Konoha, and from Suna. You will also double as a bodyguard for the Kazekage. Can you take on this most important task, Lee?"

She did not explain why it was so important, nor how she knew it about Gaara and Lee. But neither of them said anything about that. In fact, they didn't say anything at all, at first. They only stared, shock-ridden, until it set in. Then came the typical Lee spaz.

"I will perform my duty with courage and diligence, Miss Tsunade-Hokage, ma'am!" he practically yelled in his enthusiasm, giving a thumbs-up and an all-too-shiny smile.

And that's how it came about.

---

_12 Months Later_

No light.

That was exactly how Gaara liked the house to be. Lee had learned this quickly, and only lit candles when late-night work was of utmost importance.

Tonight, however, was a very special night.

Gaara hugged Lee's body close to his own—both males wore only their pants after a long day of peace discussion and desert travel, and their combined body heat more than made up for the cold Suna night.

Close to the bed. They were very close to the bed, but was Gaara ready?

He loved Lee very much, and very dearly. He was ready to learn of the last and most beautiful form love could take on.

"I love you," the redhead whispered huskily into Lee's ear. His hot breath made the Green Beast shiver, and his hold around Gaara's waist became more secure.

"I love you too….Gaara…," Lee whispered back, gently stroking his lover's bare back. The redhead drew back, and pressed his lips to Lee's, in a tender honey-and-breeze kiss that left Lee's senses tingling in delight. But what started as a gentle touch soon turned into an exotic dance of passion, something Lee had never seen Gaara display in all of their long relationship.

But it was something he was perfectly happy to return.

Mouth still clamped desperately to Lee's, Gaara's hands trailed down his lover's back, fingertips tracing hot lines on his skin and eventually toying with the top of his pants…

And suddenly, Lee was exposed, in ways he never had been before, in front of the only one he would ever be exposed for.

He broke the kiss, breathing heavily, looking meaningfully into his lover's eyes.

"Gaara…," he started. He had been very careful up until now not to take this step until his desert flower was ready to bloom, and he hoped his lover was making the right choice.

"I'm ready," Gaara whispered, voice barely audible even in the dead silence of the Sunagakure night.

Lee only nodded.

That was all the words it took, and Gaara had never felt such electric down his spine as he did that night.

His last thought before passing into sleep was, "I love him."

And that was okay.

Because his partner's thoughts were the same, and they always would be.

.end.


End file.
